Benjamin Zephaniahhttps://benjaminzephaniah.com
Poet, writer, lyricist, musician and naughty boy.Fri, 01 Sep 2017 14:27:36 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.6Does the UK really Care about Human Rights? Do You?https://benjaminzephaniah.com/does-the-uk-really-care-about-human-rights-do-you/
Wed, 25 May 2016 19:38:35 +0000https://benjaminzephaniah.com/?p=1964My first political hero was Angel Davis. It was she that first made me aware that black people were engaged in a political struggle in the USA, and I’m proud [...]

]]>My first political hero was Angel Davis. It was she that first made me aware that black people were engaged in a political struggle in the USA, and I’m proud to say that the first time I was excluded from school it was because I refused to take off a Free Angela Davis badge from my school uniform. Soon I became aware of Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela and CLR James, all of who taught that you should not see your struggle in isolation, but understand how your struggle connects to others around the world.

As a black man I have always been both fascinated and horrified by the way that mainstream media deal with elements of the struggles of black people. I have felt the same about the way many black people deal with, or even think about the struggles of their own people. I’m afraid I can remember clearly both the media and many of my own people questioning my support for the then imprisoned Nelson Mandela, calling me a supporter of a communistic terrorist. How things change. But the question remains, what does it take to make us aware of the struggles of our people.

This year the British government will make a historic decision. It will either perpetuate an outrageous human rights violation or it will finally give justice to an indigenous population over whom they have trampled for decades. The Chagossian people lived on their islands for centuries, until 1973. Now only Diego Garica, the largest Chagos Island has any inhabitants, and these are not Chagossians, these are US military officers and their support staff.

It really is no exaggeration to say that these islands were the closest you could get to paradise islands on Earth. The people were self-sufficient and they were at peace with their environment and themselves. But then, very quickly they lost it all. Chagossians were British citizens and Diego Garcia was UK territory. Through a 50 year old agreement, however, it is used pretty much exclusively by the US military. That agreement expires this year and Chagossians want to go back to their land. How did such an agreement come to be and why did it lead to half a century of enforced exile and suffering for Chagossians? Well the answer is rooted in an unsavoury and little known episode of British colonial history dating back to the 1960s. Prompted by Cold War anxiety and events in Vietnam, the USA wanted a strategically important base between Europe and the far-east. The US insisted that the people were removed from Diego Garcia, and the UK Government obliged, dumping its own citizens on the docks of Mauritius and the Seychelles.

Formerly classified documents confirm that UK officials knowingly mis-characterised Chagossians as migrant workers, whilst in fact knowing perfectly well they had lived there for centuries. This helped avoid global scrutiny, and maybe this is why so few people are aware of the suffering of these people. Chagossians were British subjects, but there is little evidence of patriotic solidarity from Foreign Office officials. If fact one referred to Chagossians as “Tarzans” and “Man Fridays.” Chagossians have always tried to avoid playing the race card, but I will. Just ask yourself if you could imagine the people of the Falkland Islands being referred to in this way. Not only do the government champion the right of ‘self-determination’ for the people of the Falkland Island, they go to war for them. Evidently the Chagossian people were not considered worthy of those same rights. The UK held up its part of this evil deal with the US: the islands would be ‘swept and sanitised.’ Chagossians were forced to leave their homes, some with no more than they could carry.

Prior to their removal, food supplies were restricted and those attempting to return to the islands, some after medical treatment in Mauritius, were denied permission to do so. Chagossians were known for the special relationship that had with their pet dogs, so a potent symbol of the disregard shown to the islanders was the gassing of hundreds of these much loved dogs. The last remaining Chagossians were eventually forced from their homes in 1973. They were crowded into boats and dumped on the shores of Mauritius and the Seychelles. Promised compensation took years to arrive or never did.

Life in the slums of Port Louis, where many Chagossians ended up, was tough and a world away from life on Chagos. Chagossians still recall today how they were self sufficient in food and rarely needed to purchase anything beyond clothing on the Islands. But in exile, destitute and psychologically tormented, the community has suffered a sadly high proportion of suicides, alcohol and drug abuse. Others have died simply from what Chagossians called ‘Sagren,’ a Creole term difficult to fully translate but essentially meaning ‘sadness.’

In spite of these difficulties, they have never ceased to fight for their right to return home. Speaking to Chagossians now reminds of speaking to South Africans in the 70s,and 80s. They are tenacious, steadfast, and they know that truth is on their side. Following a feasibility study, Ministers last year finally accepted that the return of the Chagossian people to their homes was “practically feasible.” The original agreement for the use of Diego Garcia by the US expires this year, and the UK could make US support for Chagossian return a condition of any renewal of the deal. For many Chagossians, this may be their last chance to return. Second and even third generation Chagossians are also determined to go back to what they still consider their homeland and help rebuild Chagossian society.

The British Government has long accepted that their treatment of the Chagossian people was ‘wrong’ and yet there has been little progress in delivering any measure of justice although there has been plenty of opportunity to do so. The High Court ruled in 2000 that the banning of the Chagossian people from returning was illegal. This was effectively annulled, however, in 2004 by use of Royal Prerogative. This is an antiquated, undemocratic ritual that allows government ministers to ask the queen to overrule judges’ decisions. Judges have called the British Government’s behaviour ‘repugnant’ and an ‘abuse of power’. In spite of all this, successive Governments – Labour, Conservative and Coalition – have failed to show genuine determination to answer this international call for justice.

When I started writing this my main target audience was the black community, it was first published in The Voice newspaper, but when it comes to the Human Rights, (or Animal rights for that matter), I’m not a black guy or a white guy, I’m not a Asian or an Hispanic guy, I’m a human guy. This is about the humanity and dignity of a people.

The Chagossian community is a small group of a few thousand people with high levels of deprivation, and yet they have not shirked the task of challenging two of the most powerful Governments in the world. We should not shirk our responsibility to back our fellow citizens in their struggle for something as simple as their homeland. Personally I think that we of the black communities, (and all communities for that matter), should shout louder to defend our Chagossians sister and brothers. They desperately need us. In times like these when we are bombarded with images of refugees and asylum seekers running away from home, here we have refugees and exiles desperately wanting to go home. Ending Chagossians UK-enforced exile is the only just end to decades of human rights violation. It would not only give a future to this stricken community; it would also be a chance for Britain as a nation to do the right thing. 2016 must be the year we stand together and act to end their exile.

Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Zephaniah is Patron of the UK Chagos Support Association but the views in this article are his own.

]]>People, I’m back. Actually I’ve been back for a while, but let me explain.

As well as my yearly visit to Chen Jia Gou in China where I study taiji (tai Chi), this year I also went to Tibet. Tibet really is an amazing place. It can be difficult to see what it’s really like because the Chinese have such strict security there, but once you get around officialdom and meet some real Tibetans, you get a really honest idea of how the people feel, and you see what the place is really like. It is the highest (inhabited) place on Earth, so the first thing that happens when you arrive is that you get altitude sickness. I got if for a while, but it wasn’t too bad, I just had a few hallucinations and some trippy dreams. There is one thing you’ll notice about my travel photos that I put on my web site, they tend to be of me with friends and people I meet, but in Tibet my breath was taken away by the beauty of the place, which is why there are lots of photos of mountains.

Coming home was strange. I came home to four funerals and one memorial service, at the same time I had to go to Wales to film Benjamin Zephaniah’s First Eisteddfod, which I know many people have seen. With all the negativity I was going through at the time it was a real pleasure to make the programme, an escape if you like, but I’m so pleased that it had such an effect on people all over the world. The Eisteddfod is a great expression of Welsh culture. Some of it is weird and bizarre, and some of it is roots and political. I loved it. And I stand by what I said about the Welsh language. Britain is a multicultural place, and if we can learn Hindi, German, Chinese, French, and Polish in our schools, I don’t see any reason why we can’t learn Welsh, Cornish, or Scots. Not all schools teach Hindi or Chinese etc, so not all schools should teach Welsh, Cornish, or Scots, but they are our native languages and so they should also be options. Multiculturalism is not just about the cultures that come here; it should also be about the cultures that are here. Although we know that in truth we all came here from somewhere if we go back far enough.

I was really moved by all the people who wrote such positive things about my Eisteddfod journey, and I have to say sorry to people who tweeted me and sent me messages in various ways. I just couldn’t reply to you with all the funerals and everything that comes with them.

I have always been acutely aware of the refugees fleeing war and oppression that come to Europe, after all – this was what inspired my novel ‘Refugee Boy’, but coming home and seeing the thousands of people arriving at various European borders brought home to me just how bad some parts of the world are. I can’t help but notice the lack of any talk about how British, American, and what some might generally call ‘western’ intervention has help to create these problems. Some of you might remember that on many occasions, on various debates on TV and radio, I said that repercussions would come back to us if we meddle in other people’s affairs. Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Libya had problems before, but however you cut it none of those countries were as bad as they are now. What I find sadly ‘ironic’ about this whole situation, is that a few decades ago thousands of people left Germany to seek refuge in other countries, now people from many other countries are seeking refuge in Germany. It is the place to go, it is where (most) people welcome refugees with open arms. And the Prime Minister of what some people called the United Kingdom, (which we all know is not united), does nothing until he sees the photo of a dead boy on a beach, as if he didn’t believe it was happening and a little boy needed to die before he did something. Then what did he do? Very little. Fortunately the people of these islands have shown an enormous amount of compassion putting the government to shame.

So what about Jeremy Corbyn, well I know him, but I don’t know him very well. I’ve been on many campaigns with him and I have to say, he is one of the most dedicated campaigners I have ever seen. Back in the days when we were trying to free Mandela, free women, free East Timor, free the carnival, and trying to ban the bomb, I remember being with him on three demonstrations in one day, and then at the end of the day I was getting in my car to go home and sleep, and he was going off to address a meeting. Whatever you think of him, he really does care and he’s not in this for the money or his ego. Sadly I fear it will end in tears. The forces reigned against him are so strong. Right wing big businesses, right wing media, right wing politicians, (and not just those in the Labour party), are all out to get him. They had a go at him because he didn’t sign the national anthem, but they would have had a bigger go at him if he did. His every move will be scrutinised and those who are out to discredit him will be waiting to criticise every handshake, milkshake, or toilet break he makes.

BTW, I would never sing the national anthem. Apart from all my personal political reasons, it’s a terrible tune, and most people only know the first verse. I don’t want to grant Marshal Wade aid, that he may rush to crush rebellious Scots. I really like rebellious Scots.

I have lost many close friends lately and for the most part I have shied away from naming them although some of them were high profile personalities. But I have to mention Chantal Benjamin. She was my first real agent, manager, events organiser, and an amazing friend. With both of us having Benjamin in our names people thought we were related, but we weren’t. In the late eighties she gave up a full time, well paid job, to take care of me, and we were like a pair of outlaws. For a long while we could not be separated, and I have always used our relationship as an example of how a man and a woman can be extremely trusting of each other, and extremely close, and free to express ourselves to each other without that relationship being sexualised. Some might call it plutonic, but after giving it some thought I would prefer to call it spiritual. She went on to work tirelessly for disadvantaged minorities in the media and as an activist. It is obvious that I will miss her, but more importantly all of those people she worked to help and to liberate, and all of those people who trusted in her wisdom will miss her very much.

So that’s it. If you’ve read pieces that I’ve written here before you’ll know that I’m not really keen on writing blogs, but when I’ve been away for a while I feel that I must talk a bit about where I’ve been. It’s probably full of spelling mistakes and I might have repeated myself a little, but it’s how I feel right now. The next few months are going to be really busy so please don’t expect much from me online. I’ll be recording in the studio, acting, and eating all the vegetables I’ve grown this year.

]]>Let’s talk about drugs.https://benjaminzephaniah.com/lets-talk-drugs/
Sun, 02 Nov 2014 13:31:11 +0000https://benjaminzephaniah.com/?p=1477When I was about 15 years old I remember walking home with my brother and a friend on a warm moonlight night. My brother and me were singing Bob Marley [...]

]]>When I was about 15 years old I remember walking home with my brother and a friend on a warm moonlight night. My brother and me were singing Bob Marley songs, and our friend, Stephen Riley, was singing Rod Steward songs. We were trying to work out which songs were the best, but we were all too biased to judge. Stephen walked us home and then he carried on his way, but the next morning I was woken up and told that he had died. We were told that after he left us he took some drugs, stole a car, and drove it into a wall. That moment has stuck in my head all this time because I remember how happy and full of life Stephen was when we left him. This was the first time I knew anyone who had taken hard drugs. I knew people who had smoked weed, in fact I think everyone I knew smoked weed, but on the whole they were all against tablets and powders. Later on in life I find I have had many friends who have lost their lives to drugs, apparently it comes with the territory when you work in the creative field.

If this sounds like a build up to a rant against drugs it’s not. I think that everyone likes to get high, it’s just that some people have legal ways and some have illegal ways, but illegal by who’s laws? As a young Rastafarian who would sometimes go to gatherings in houses or temples, I could never understand why the god given, holy, natural herbs that we used as part of our sacrament was illegal, but I could take a step outside and see many drunk Christians, even drunk priests falling about in the streets. Many of them would then go home and beat their partners, and even their children. The people I knew who used Ganja walked with their heads help high and would speak with pride about their history, their destiny, and their revolutionary idea. So even in my early years I sensed this great hypocrisy.

I get high, but I get high from breathing. If you have never practiced Kung Fu, yoga, or meditation I can understand why you might think that I’m talking mumbo jumbo, but believe me, I get high everyday using breathing techniques. And it’s good.

But what I really want to talk about here is not drugs, or even drug users, but the families and friends of people who are addicted to drugs, and people who have had to give up much of their lives to care for a family member that has an addiction. Over the last year I have come to know quite a few addicts and ex addicts, and they all have unique, and sometimes horrific stories. I have watched as they struggle with their problems, and as much as I would like to help them sometimes I just feel useless. So it was quite timely when someone contacted me this summer from an organization called Drugs In Lincs. He invited me to come along to one of their meetings to see what they do. Now I get at least two of these type of requests everyday, so of course I can’t respond positively to all of them. I am already patron of almost forty charities, but this request intrigued me. The south of Lincolnshire, where this organisation is based, is known for potatoes, roses, tulips, and churches, not for it’s drugs problem, but like many rural areas, all is not as it seems. There is a drug problem, and behind closed doors there are many family members who are struggling, and suffering.

I went along to see the people who run this organization and I was very impressed with their dedication. The area they’re concentrating on is one that is very much overlooked. There are organizations all over the country that do a great job helping the addicts themselves, but as the founder of Drugs In Lincs pointed out to me, there is very little support for their famili

Although Drugs In Lincs are based in Lincolnshire, they have connections all over the country. Founded in March 2014 they offer emotional and practical support to families and others who are affected by someone else’s drug or alcohol misuse. They are now the leading support organisation in the County. I automatically thought that the people they help would be parents who have young kids that have gone off the track, but it’s not as simple as that. There are wives, husbands and partners of course, but shockingly there are also children that have to look after their parents, and sometimes their families.

I’m writing all of this to simply say that if you are someone who is suffering the side effects of someone around you who has a drug problem you don’t need to be alone, you don’t have to suffer alone, there are people out there who are ready to help you. It doesn’t matter who you are, young or old, rich or poor, townie or rural, office type or Rastafarian poet, you are human, so if you need help, reach out. If you don’t live in Lincolnshire you can still contact Drugs In Lincs to help find an organisation in your area, and if you do live in Lincolnshire you can be sure that you will find good people there who you can trust. So don’t hesitate to contact them by phone/text/email/skype, or go to their website and see their full range of interventions.

]]>Thanks for the chocolate.https://benjaminzephaniah.com/thanks-chocolate/
Wed, 22 Oct 2014 19:24:52 +0000https://benjaminzephaniah.com/?p=1432I’ve just finished doing something I’ve never done before. A tour to promote a book. I’ve done tours before, and published books before, but when those books were published I [...]

]]>I’ve just finished doing something I’ve never done before. A tour to promote a book. I’ve done tours before, and published books before, but when those books were published I tended to be out going gigs anyway so there was no reason to do a special promotional tour. So this was the first time I ever did a speaking tour just to talk about a novel. The novel of course is Terror Kid, and because of the issues raised in the book, every event was very different. I probably shouldn’t say this, but I do think that ‘sometimes’, and I must stress ‘sometimes’, listening to authors talking about their books can be quite arduous, even if the book is great and the author is the nicest person in the world. I don’t think I’m that good at it either, I think all my ideas are in my books (or poems), so I was quite surprised to see so many people come out to listen to me.

It is difficult to express how moved I have been but the encounters I had with my young readers, and how interesting some of their questions were. When writers do these things there are questions that pop up time and time again, they tend to be used to get things going, questions like ‘When did you start writing?’ and ‘where do you write?’ etc, but after that most of the questions that came my way, and therefore the conversations, were about politics. Not party politics, but what I’ve always called street politics, questions about free speech, freedom of expression, terrorism, gangs, policing, racism, and feminism. The passion of these young people reinforced what I have always believed, that young people do care about politics, they are just put off by politicians. After these conversations I was left feeling inspired, and hopeful.

So this is another non blog from me, I simply want to thank everyone who came out to see me, especially those who traveled long distances, and those who brought me vegan chocolate and cakes. Thanks for the chocolate mice, the chocolate rabbits, the coffee cake, the raw chocolate and coconut balls. Then there are those that brought me mangoes, durian, ackee, and yams. I was really touched by all the gifts I received, and I ate them all. Except sandwiches I was given in Cheltenham. They were gross.

So Terror Kid is out there, I am now going to spend the next few months concentrating on my students at Brunel and finishing off my music CD. Yes, it’s taking ages, but I just have so much to do.

]]>Tai Chi with the Beeshttps://benjaminzephaniah.com/tai-chi-bees/
Thu, 11 Sep 2014 23:21:30 +0000https://benjaminzephaniah.com/?p=1225Yes, I’m back. And it’s strange being back. I just logged on to my twitter account for the first time in 5 months and found hundreds of messages. I don’t [...]

]]>Yes, I’m back. And it’s strange being back. I just logged on to my twitter account for the first time in 5 months and found hundreds of messages. I don’t know why, because I never respond to messages there (as you all know), but it’s interesting to read all the things that have happened while I was away.

I’ve spent the summer in China where I had a great time seeing friends, dancing, and doing gigs in Mongolia, Beijing and Shanghai, but most of all training and mediating in Chen Jia Gou. For those of you that don’t know, Chen Jia Gou is a small village in Henan (central China) that is the birthplace of Tai Chi. It’s a very difficult place to get to, life is very basic there, but my teacher is there, so I love going there. Whilst there all I do is Tai Chi, morning, noon, and night, everyday. And I do it with some of the greatest Tai Chi players in the world. I recommend you go if you have an interest in this great martial art – meditation practice. There is very little else to do in Chen Jia Gou. Phones don’t work well, Internet doesn’t work well, so I just do without and concentrate on my practice. I always leave there feeling very ‘peaceful’ and at one with the world, and myself, but there’s always something that brings me right back down to earth.

I left Chen Jia Gou and went to a city called Zhengzhou, where I turned a television on to be greeted with the horrific bombing of Gaza. Gaza is a place I know well and within minutes I was seeing bombed out streets and buildings that I recognised. For the next few days this was all I was seeing on TV, and for the first time in my life I just couldn’t bare it. After seeing pictures of people, mainly children, who had been told to go to a place of safety, only for that ‘place of safety’ to be bombed, I had to stop watching the reports. It was too brutal, and I just found there was nothing new to learn. I could predict the excuses that Israel was giving for the bombing, I knew that Hamas would respond by pointing out that they are living in a prison under occupation, and I knew all the excuses that the USA would use as they turn a blind eye to Israeli violation of international laws. It was all so predictable, and I just couldn’t take it any more.

So now I’m back and the two things on my mind are the work I have to do with my new students, and the release of my new novel Terror Kid. I will be going to various venues around the country talking about this new book, don’t ask me where because there are too many for me to remember. I’m not going to stop and research myself but if you really want to know if I’m in your area do your own research. Off the top of my head I do know I’ll be in Ealing, Birmingham, Newham (East London), Suffolk, Wimbledon, Cheltenham and Chester. There is others but it’s late, and I can’t think of them now. Come along if you’re up for it, and bring me some chocolate if you want to make me really happy It’s been slow, but I’m still working on my next album, just a few touches to do. I find it difficult to find time to get in the recording studio. And I must say I’m very proud of a little film I presented call ‘Making your Past Pay’. It’s all about how you can help yourself to find work after you come out of prison. http://vimeo.com/105214823

At the moment I’m reading Assata, An Autobiography. You must check out her story, or better still read this book and get her own words. Assata Shakur is the godmother of the late rapper Tupac Shakur and was a member of the Black Liberation Army, and the Black Panther party in the US of A. She escaped from Prison in 1979 and has lived in Cuba ever since. She was at one time the most wanted woman in the USA and recently it was announced that she is the first woman on the USA’s list of most wanted terrorist. This is stuff you can find on google or elsewhere, but what makes this book such a good read is reading her side of the story, and more importantly reading her personal journey. Understanding how deep the racism was in the states, and understand how ordinary people were affected so much that that organised and defended themselves. As a kid she was a hero of mine, along with Angela Davis. These were fearless, powerful women, who had an absolute sense of purpose.

This is not a review, I’m simply telling you that you have to read this book. It’s personal, it’s political, and it’s honest. #Assata

I see the rabbits every now and again, but they have grown big now and it seems they don’t need the safety of my garden anymore. They’re a lot more independent, which is good. They were never my pets. The thing on my mind now is bees and butterflies. They are disappearing, and we need more of them. So I have created a patch of my garden that I have left to grow wild, and I’ve planted some plants that will attract butterflies and bees. You might think it’s not that important, but let me tell you, I have seen places in China where there are no bees, so now thousands of people have to go out into the fields and pollinate plants and crops by hand. Not good.

I know. I’m rambling, but I must stress (again) this is not really a blog, I’m not a blogger. This is a rant.

]]>Forward Ever, Backward Never, and The Rabbit is Dead. Long live the Rabbits.https://benjaminzephaniah.com/forward-ever-backward-never-rabbit-dead-long-live-rabbits/
Wed, 28 May 2014 19:48:17 +0000https://benjaminzephaniah.com/?p=684Forward ever backward never. When I was toasting (rapping) on sound systems this was one of my favorite chants, it was also used as a chant on demonstrations, and even [...]

]]>Forward ever backward never. When I was toasting (rapping) on sound systems this was one of my favorite chants, it was also used as a chant on demonstrations, and even on carnivals. The idea was that after my parent’s generation dealing with the racist of the 50s and 60s, and my generation dealing with them in the 70s, 80s and 90s’ we were expecting that our country would be moving forward, leaving racists and their backward ideas to wallow in the past. How wrong we were. When I received my voting paper a couple of weeks ago I was depressed at how negative it was. Every political party (except the Greens) had a negative strap line underneath their names. They were all about how many people they would get out of the country, or how many people they would stop from coming here, how they would control us, or how isolated they wanted us to be. I don’t want to see a United States of Europe, I’m not keen on the European project; I can’t understand why we can’t have good relationships with the rest of Europe without getting into bed with them. But I think that having close ties with those in Europe is much better that us being slaves to the USA. I’d rather have people from Europe picking potatoes and picking guitars, than have American military bases (and bombs) here preparing for wars.

When I saw my voting paper I was reminded of all those stories I’ve read about the build up to the Nazi genocide, and other atrocities around the world. Politicians mess up, blame minority groups, various groups of the population start to blame each other, and then the ‘final solution’. It may sound drastic, but it’s the way it happens, and when it happens very few people say they saw it coming. Today the results of a survey has been published that says that a third of the British people say they are racially prejudice. It is not suggested that they are racist, they are not being accused of being racist, they are saying they are racist. I know that these surveys are not an exact science, but even if these results are a point or two out in any direction, this is not only a disgrace, but it’s very sad. We have to ask ourselves what kind of a country we are creating when xenophobes and racists are mainstream. The really amazing thing is that on the whole, people at a grass roots level (or certainly the people that I come across) are getting on with each other, making music with each other, making tea with each other, and making babies with each other. So there is hope, but I find myself looking at people as I move around wondering how much they hate me. I’m tempted to end this bit of my rant by saying ‘forward never backward ever’, but come on Benjamin, it can’t be that bad.

The Rabbit is Dead. The rabbit I wrote about a while back made her home in my garden. She used to allow me to get right close to her, and we really became friends. I didn’t realise it at the time, but she was pregnant. So then she had babies. I could never quite work out how many because every time I got near them they ran off, but that was fine. I didn’t want to ‘tame’ them. The joy was looking out of almost any of my windows and seeing these rabbits playing, running and eating in my garden. It was like having the joy of having them around me, of having pets if you like, but they were still wild. Let me make this clear, I’m an animal lover. Not a pet lover. I don’t think animals are here for our entertainment. Anyway, one day I walked into the garden and three of the babies were looking down on the dead body of their mother. I was shocked. I don’t know how she died, she didn’t look as if she had been attacked, and the last time I saw her she wasn’t showing any signs of illness. She was just dead. I buried her, which was strange. Burying a wild animal, all on my own, and I was talking to her as I did. I promised her that I would look after her children, and their children, the their children’s children. And so it is. I feel as if I have an orphanage. They run around my garden and they are getting used to me. Instead of running far away when I go out, they now run to a place where they feel safe, and they watch me putting out the washing or playing tai chi. My rant is coming to and end. I’m tempted to rant about other things that are bugging me like people who try to get me to do gigs or other stuff on twitter (I don’t do any stuff here, I have agents for that). Or that I got stopped twice by the police last week in Norwich. (Things are rough there). Or the weather. But I don’t have the energy. I have just heard that Maya Angelou has died. I need to go and sit down far away from phones and computers.

]]>There’s no such street as Benefit Street.https://benjaminzephaniah.com/theres-street-benefit-street/
Sun, 20 Apr 2014 23:46:30 +0000https://benjaminzephaniah.com/?p=670Why I want to celebrate the other side of Birmingham that Benefits Street doesn’t show.

]]>Why I want to celebrate the other side of Birmingham that Benefits Street doesn’t show.

(First published in the Daily Mirror 10-3-14)

I love Birmingham. When I left there for the brighter lights of London I didn’t really like it that much. I was sick of my continuing mini war with the police, the girls down south were looking fine, and I wanted to get noticed as a poet. Birmingham was full of creative people, but there were just a couple of ‘black’ community centres where I could perform, and the other venues were not keen on Reggae inspired Dub Poetry. In fact even when I was trying to go straight and use my creativity, most of the places I would perform at were illegal dances.

Forty years ago I was expelled from school. I got into trouble with the police, and I spent some time in what was then called Winson Green prison, now Birmingham Prison. The prison is around the corner from the now famous James Turner Street. When I was released with no qualifications and a criminal record the future seemed bleak, so I got out of the city altogether. But after I got out I found myself passionately defending the city of my birth. People down south would constantly attack our accent, and call us uneducated criminals.

I loathe journalist asking me about my criminal past, after all it was so long ago, and I’ve done so many positive things since then. As a proud Brummie survivor I’d like to think that my life and achievements are a modest antidote to what some called the ‘Birmophobia’ of television programmes like Benefit Street which depicts Brummies as shiftless, workshy, ignorant and dysfunctional, even though we have a proud industrial heritage dating back to when Birmingham was ‘the workshop of the world’ and the ‘city of a thousand trades’.

There are parts of Birmingham that are very deprived and neglected, and although I try not to spend much time with politicians, when I look at areas of my city I want to grab hold of the few that I know and show them how some people are forced to live, whilst they sit in London claiming we’re all in this together, that or worse still, that we are experiencing an economic recovery. I suppose the question that ‘Benefit Street’ poses, and which everyone has been reacting to, is how did things get this bad? But the problem with it and the makers of Benefit Street is that they don’t attempt to answer this question, let alone look deeper at the underlying causes.

The producers think that Benefit Street is a legitimate and illuminating piece of show business, but let me make this clear, there is no street in Birmingham that is called ‘Benefit Street’. This is fiction from reality. It’s a programme where real people are recorded and more importantly, edited, into what turned out to be a cross between a reality show and a soap opera. I would love to be proved wrong, but by calling the programme Benefit Street I cannot help but conclude that the producers knew what kind of programme they were going to make before their crews arrived in Winson Green. Worse still, if they didn’t know beforehand, and if they cared about their subjects, they wouldn’t have given the programme that title anyway. What is wrong with James Turner Street? The name represents what Birmingham was all about. It was named after an industrious industrialist, and it has been James Turner Street since the 1870s.

I suspect that the production team don’t share the background of their subjects, I can’t help thinking they are well-heeled, mainly London media types, getting off on seeing how the other half live. Nothing against them of course, some of my best friends are well-healed media types, but Benefit Street is not that other Channel 4 show, Shameless. They are different because Shameless is coming from a place of love and affection, from someone (the creator) who knows that place and its culture.

What Benefit Street and other depictions of Brummies as comic and uncouth monsters have in common is that they think they can get away with it because the rest of the country will join in. The representations in Benefit Street real or factual are misleading and are playing to prejudices as unfair as the one implicitly repeated over and over again in the TV series, and even in its title – that all people on benefits are unemployed, it’s actually about 5% and they receive around 3% in total of the overall benefits bill – the other 95% of people who receive benefits also work.

I’ve been involved in a few programmes about Birmingham lately, one celebrating it’s multiculturalism, another about the way the police and mental heath workers are uniting to deal with emergencies that involve the mentally ill, and I’m currently making a film with isore Media and the Probation Service promoting employability for ex-offenders. You see, I thought that this would be a chance to actually do something about the problems of worklessness, drug addiction and offending behaviour depicted on some of our streets in Birmingham.

The reason we believe that our modest offender employability film is more important to society than Benefit Street is a simple and pragmatic one. As research has demonstrated, ex-offenders who are in employment are 30-50% less likely to re-offend, an outcome that even ‘the hang ‘em and flog ‘em brigade’ must welcome as the going rate to keep someone in prison is at around £40,000 cost to the tax-payer a year (according to the NAO). That’s not counting the enormous benefits and ripple-effect to offenders and their families who do find employment and become productive members of society.

Who hasn’t made mistakes? I have. But after making many mistakes when I was younger I always told myself that I had to learn from them, and then help others with my knowledge and experience. I see my participation in this film as an opportunity for me to use my experience to help others, in a real concrete way. We should all be valued, we should all value ourselves, and we do value our lives when they are productive and we have food to eat. I have my heart in this film; I have my heart in this city. This is not poverty tourism; this is not even show business. This is keeping it real business.

]]>Not so happy new year, and other thoughts.https://benjaminzephaniah.com/not-so-happy-new-year-and-other-thoughts/
Thu, 02 Jan 2014 00:28:01 +0000https://benjaminzephaniah.com/?p=571When this web site was built for me the designer said that I should have this section and use it as a blog, but I haven’t. I really, really struggle [...]

]]>When this web site was built for me the designer said that I should have this section and use it as a blog, but I haven’t. I really, really struggle to fit the things that I have to do into a day already, so I just don’t have time for blogging, or facebooking or tweeting. Today is the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar so I thought I would rise up nice and early and write something in this space. Then I got a phone call. After that call I rushed to The Queen Elisabeth Hospital in Birmingham to see a man dying. The man is not a blood relative of mine, but for many years he raised me like his son so I’m very close to him. I have more memoires of him than my ‘real’ dad, and although his mind and body are shutting down he recognised me, and tired (although it was very difficult) to speak to me. We have been warned that these are his last hours, so we were told we should say our goodbyes. I could not say goodbye to someone who is clinging on and fighting for his life, the best I could do (as I was leaving) was say that, somehow, somewhere, we will see each other again. I know that can be interpreted in many different ways, but I just couldn’t say goodbye to someone who is trying not to say goodbye. He is not going gentle into that good night.

My original plan was to tell you that in September I will have a new novel for young adults published. It’s called Terror Kid, and will be published by Hot Keys. All my past novels have been published by Bloomsbury and I really loved being with them, but my editor left and I had to go with her. Any writer will tell you that a good editor is priceless. I would fall apart without mine; I’ll go wherever she goes.

I should also be releasing a new music album this year. We don’t have a date fixed yet, and I don’t have a title, but it’s going well. I’ve gone back to my reggae roots, with a touch of dubstep. I know the times they are a changing, but I don’t want it to be released as download only, I am going to insist that the label release it on CD and possibly vinyl too.

I’m reading three books at the moment. I say reading, I really mean dipping into. They are;

Irki by Kadija Sesay.

This woman is amazing, but my biggest criticism of her is that she has two names that keep confusing people. She is also Kadija George, one of the greatest champions of black literature living in Britain today. She is everywhere. It would be impossible to say how much she has done for writing in Britain without writing a book. But she is also a great poet. I’m no good at reviewing, but I can tell you that if you like poetry that is well written, thoughtful, sometimes playful, with storytelling qualities, then check her out.

Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen.

Not much to say really. You know what Leonard Cohen does, you either like it or you don’t. I love his work. If you know his work by his music alone, then give this book a try.

Prisonomics by Vicky Pryce.

I know that prisons don’t work. They do very little in terms of rehabilitation, they do very little in terms of cutting ‘crime’, and they therefore do very little for victims. Prisons just don’t deal with the serious underlying problems in society. I also know that they don’t make economic sense, and this is really what this book is about.

Not very long ago I was in Holloway Women’s Prison making a film, and I couldn’t help but notice how vulnerable many of the women there were. As Vicky Pryce points out many women in British prisons are there for failing to pay television licenses, or rent arrears, or because their children have played truant. I would add to the women who have been forced into prostitution, or forced to carry drugs, or even forced to hide stolen goods for men. I could never understand why the powers that be can’t see that it’s a false economy to lock these women up. Well Vicky Pryce exposes the economic stupidity. It is well known that she got sentenced to eight months for accepting her ex husband’s speeding penalty points so one could ask if she would have had written such a book if she didn’t go to nick herself. But we’ll never know, unless we ask her. The point is she has now been inside, she has a good understanding of her subject, and she makes her arguments well. Again I can’t review it, I don’t know how to review books, I just don’t have the language, but I do know that she makes a lot of sense, and it’s about time someone articulated a common sense alternative economic strategy to prisons. But I’m still a revolutionary, and I still believe that if we are to keep the prisons we have we should be locking up many more politicians, bankers and hunters.

I’ve had a few enquires from the media asking me to comment on the new year’s honours’ list. I have very little else to say about the subject. If need the queen and the government to give them a badge for being good citizens, that’s their problem, but I did notice the two NHS whistles blowers got gongs. I think the government will be fine with that, because that want to give the impression that they are somehow cleaning the NHS up. You can’t argue that the women weren’t right to do what they did. But what about the other whistle-blowers? What about those that expose police corruption, and those women and men that expose war crimes, you will never see someone getting an OBE, MBE or any gong for exposing political corruption. Those that expose violations of the law are violated by the law. Nuff said.

So that’s it. Maybe this is not a real blog, just me ranting, but at least it’s something.

I should also just say that today I have been in Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, and Peterborough, and I really looked hard, but I couldn’t see a Bulgarian – Romanian invasion.

]]>To Do Wid Me. A new DVD and book.https://benjaminzephaniah.com/to-do-wid-me-a-new-dvd-and-book/
Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:56:31 +0000https://benjaminzephaniah.com/?p=546Yes, that’s right, I’ve got a new DVD and book out. It’s a kind of Zephaniah on the road jam, and it features my mum and my nephew, Zayn. He’s [...]

]]>Yes, that’s right, I’ve got a new DVD and book out. It’s a kind of Zephaniah on the road jam, and it features my mum and my nephew, Zayn. He’s a good boy, but he can’t play football as good as me. The DVD has live performances of some previously published and unpublished poems, with interviews and lots of messing around by me. What I really love about it is the mix of my children’s poetry, my work for adults, and my music, which most publishers usually like to keep separate. Publisher, writer, and all round good guy Neil Astley has written an introduction for it, and Pamela Robertson-Pearce did the filming. We’ve tried to do something which stands up as both entertaining and educational, so it could be used in schools and other funky places. I’m pleased with it.

]]>Peter Leyland (The Poet and his books)https://benjaminzephaniah.com/peter-leyland-the-poet-and-his-books/
Fri, 28 Dec 2012 12:33:16 +0000https://benjaminzephaniah.com/?p=539I don’t do this very often, but I want to tell you about a poet called Peter Leyland. I came across him when I visited the home of the Kung [...]

]]>I don’t do this very often, but I want to tell you about a poet called Peter Leyland. I came across him when I visited the home of the Kung Fu teacher, Sifu Julian Hitch. Peter Leyland is no longer with us, but was related to Julian, in fact it was his grand mother (Peter Leyland’s Wife) who first gave me a copy of A Traveller From Stratford. In this book Leyland uses his poetic license to take Shakespeare on a journey. Leyland himself was a traveler, and it is the theme of most of his writings. His poetry is accessible, but well thought out, and very well grafted. I have no idea how educated he was but he never tries to show it off, he takes the words we use everyday and makes them special simply by the way he orders them. My favorite in this collection is Hiroshima. The Spirit of Tragedy Speaks. A great example of a very short poem that speaks loudly. This book is full of such gems, but it doesn’t stop there.

After reading A Traveller From Stratford I was given another Peter Leyland book called Double Adventure. Another gem. I have very little time for the ‘English man abroad’, where the civilised white man goes to exotic places, where strange people do strange things, and everything is judged against the great British standard. Leyland is never like that. He loves traveling, but he respects the people and cultures he encounters. His poetry is a homage to them, I think at times he is so fascinated by the world that he is compelled to share it with us, and by using the poetic form he does something much more personal, profound, and touching than keeping a diary or writing his memoirs. I don’t know, he could have done that as well, but personally I am happy with his poetry.

It saddens me that he is not more well known, but the good thing is that his books (well certainly the two I’ve read) are still in print, and they are timeless. In times when history is a product, and travel books are written as if they are written by travel agents, his poetry is worldly but personal, steeped in history, but it still feels contemporary. Peter Leyland was excited about the world, but not afraid to apply his own imagination to it. He was not afraid to muse history and make it his own.